Anchors or “bolts” provide primary support for one or more of the faces of a passage in an underground mine, such as the roof or overburden. In connection with the installation of these bolts, it is often necessary or desired to install a reticulated mesh or grid material along the corresponding face(s). The main role of mesh is to provide passive confinement, especially in locations where poor ground conditions prevail, preventing fragments of rock and coal from falling from the roof and ribs in the spacing between reinforcing bolts.
Under the current approach, this supplemental protection afforded by the grid or mesh is separately applied to the roof and ribs of the mine passage, and oftentimes completed manually as part of the bolting operation. Past proposals have been made in an effort to facilitate the application of grid or mesh through semi-automated approaches, such as by having a roll of mesh or grid in flexible form carried by a mining machine and applied during the advance to form the mine passage.
Despite such advances, the known approaches suffer from being relatively complex in nature, and generally do not obviate the continued need for significant operator involvement. Specifically, an operator must still be involved to a significant extent in helping to initially support and tension the grid material or mesh during installation, and must also take measures to ensure that the proper amount of tension is provided throughout the operation. These requirements for frequent manual intervention increase the man hours and thus limit the practical effectiveness and efficiency of the limited automation provided. Past approaches are also limited to applying the grid to only the roof, which then requires a separate manual application to the rib(s) if the supplemental protection afforded thereby is required.
Accordingly, a need is identified for an improved system for use in applying a grid or mesh to a face of a mine passage. As compared with past approaches, the system would be relatively simple in construction and inexpensive to implement. Yet, it would bring a significant level of advancement in terms of the savings in time and cost realized from its use. The result that follows from use of the system would be an overall increase in the efficiency of the mining operation.